Los Angeles Lakers center Pau Gasol, of Spain, dunks the ball during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Portland Trail Blazers, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2013, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Just as the Lakers see some encouragement in the long-term injuries to Kobe Bryant (left Achilles tendon) and Steve Nash (back), there’s a few ones that have just popped up.
After nursing soreness in his sprained right ankle in the past few days, Lakers forward Pau Gasol said he will probably receive an MRI Monday to see if it has worsened. After straining his left hamstring in the Lakers’ 114-108 loss Sunday to the Portland Trail Blazers at Staples Center, Lakers backup point guard Jordan Farmar will undergo Monday either an MRI, ultrasound or both depending on what team doctors determine is necessary.
“It’s a little sore. Hopefully everything will be okay,” said Gasol, who’s also nursing a sprained left hand. “My hand is a little jammed up, but nothing major.”
That partly explains why Gasol finished with only six points on three of 15 shooting, a stretch so bad that he sat out the entire fourth quarter.
“I missed some wide open shots,” Gasol said. “I missed them early. I missed them late. I had good looks. The ball didn’t want to go in.”
Meanwhile, Farmar played only a minute midway through the first quarter before leaving the game with 4:33 remaining and limping toward the locker room. Farmar stretched out on a foam roller prior to the game, but Lakers’ coach Mike D’Antoni said he didn’t indicate any pain until he was on the court.
“He just said when he ran down the floor that he strained his hamstring,” D’Antoni said. “I don’t know how bad or what it will be. We’ll find out in the next couple of days. He took off running and told me to take him out.”
Lakers point guard Steve Blake, who posted 13 points on 5 of 13 shooting in 33 minutes in the wake of Farmar’s injury, strained his right hamstring last season and ultimately missed two playoff games. But Blake didn’t need any surgery.
“I know exactly what he’s going through. I don’t know how severe it is, but it’s something you can come back from,” Blake said. “I don’t think it’s a season ending thing. I’d hate to see a teammate go down. He was playing so well. But he’ll work and get back. He’ll be fine.”
Thankfully for the Lakers, they have a four-day stretch before they play Friday in Sacramento. The Lakers will have the day off Monday before having three full practices Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Follow L.A. Daily News Lakers beat writer Mark Medina on Twitter. E-mail him at mark.medina@dailynews.com